© 2008, 2010, 2011  Keyart Productions
EVA VIRSIK, pianist
Photo: R. Lesay, 2011
Slovak-American pianist Eva Virsik was born in Bratislava. Hailed by the press as a child prodigy, she
started piano lessons at age four with composer and pianist Dušan Martinček, and made her first
television appearance at the same time. She won her first competition at age six, and gave her first,
one-hour public recital at age eight. She was granted a special status from the Ministry of Culture in
Slovakia, to begin her study at the Conservatory in Bratislava at age eleven.  At fourteen, she won first
prize in the National Youth Competition, and first prize in the international "Virtuosi per Musica di
Pianoforte” Competition. At fifteen, she won first prize at the international Smetana Competition,
where she played in the finals Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 under the baton of Libor Pešek.  The
following year, she won first prize at the Competition of Slovak Conservatories.  She rose to
prominence as one of her country's finest young pianists, performing at a young age with her country’s
best orchestras such as the Slovak Philharmonic, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Karlsbad
Symphony Orchestra,  the Slovak Chamber Ensemble, and  the Košice Philharmonic, under the batons
of their well-known conductors Ondrej Lenárd, Ľudovít Rajter, Bystrík Režucha, Vladimír Válek.  Her
playing was characterized by a leading music magazine in Slovakia as “...intense emotional submerge,
refined details, a one-of-a-kind creative atmosphere, marked by technical confidence and ease,
brilliance and poetry...”    

Eva Virsik completed her study at the Moscow State Conservatory in Russia, where she earned
bachelor's, master's and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees.  Upon her return to Slovakia, with a fresh new
win at the National Performing Artists competition, she was appointed assistant professor at the
Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, entering her name as the youngest in that position in the
school's history. The following year, she received a silver medal as a laureate in the Maria Callas
International Piano Competition in Athens, Greece, where her performances of Schumann, Prokofiev,
and Hatzidakis lead her to fulfill international concert engagements. She lived in Germany, where she
held teaching positions at both the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg and Frankfurt, while continuing her
concert career.  In the United States, she made her debut with the Portland Symphony Orchestra
(Maine) conducted by Toshiyuki Shimada, and also served as a faculty member at Bowdoin College,
the Portland Conservatory, and the University of New Haven.

Eva Virsik performed numerous recitals and concertos at important venues in Prague, Karlsbad,
Bratislava, Košice, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Zwickau, Leipzig, Augsburg, Munich, Athens, Lille,
Boulogne, Dijon, Murmansk, Archangel and many other cities throughout Europe, as well as in the
United States, notably in New York and throughout New England. She has performed as a soloist
internationally with orchestras such as the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Nationale
de Lille, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Maine Chamber Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut
Symphony Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic, the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Karlsbad
Symphony Orchestra, and the Košice Philharmonic, among many others.  In 2008, Eva Virsik received
a standing ovation after her New York debut in Carnegie Hall. This recital was preceded by many other
performances in Connecticut and New York. She also performed a recital at Yale University by the
invitation of Davenport College, where she included in her program the rarely heard Sonata No. 3 by
Paul Hindemith. In 2010, Eva Virsik received a special recognition by the Slovak-American Cultural
Center in New York City for her cultural contribution in representing Slovakia. Later that same year,
she was honored to perform for the President of Slovakia, Ivan Gašparovič during his official visit to
the United Nations in New York. In November 2011 she was selected as one of only four finalists in the
nation, to perform at the Simone Belsky Piano Competition.

Eva Virsik performed at many music festivals throughout Europe, recorded for the Opus label, made
numerous recordings for radio networks and television stations in Europe (Germany, France, Slovakia,
Czech Republic), and in the United States, she has been featured in "Morning pro Musica" on Boston's
WGBH Radio Network, and on Maine Public Broadcasting and Maine Public Television. She has been a
guest partner of chamber music groups which include the Portland String Quartet and the DaPonte
String Quartet. She also appeared with Chinese violinist Sha at the Arcady Music Festival, with pianist
Frank Glazer at the Saco River Music Festival in Maine, and in a trio with  Janet Boughton and Mihai
Marica. She was included in the artist catalogue of a worldwide leader in digital distribution, making
her music available across five continents for direct download.

In critical acclaim, Stuttgarter Nachrichten noted: “magical sound of the piano, overwhelming
impression”; Maine Times: “extraordinary degree of control, imagination, immense manual power...a
splendid musician”; Portland Press Herald called her a “Maine and international treasure”.  During her
childhood, Virsik was active as a composer. Her early twenty-two piano compositions, written between
ages five and ten, were published in a book entitled “I Have Music” (Keyart Productions, 2002).

Eva Virsik resides in the United States. She is represented by Artists International Management. With
an ear not just for music, she has fluent command of five languages.
REPRESENTATION

Artists International Management, Inc.
www.artistsinternational.com
Headquarters in New Jersey, USA
Birgit Schmid-Salm, Executive Director
T. +1 973.538.0302
bsalm@artistsinternational.com
Office in Dublin, Ireland
Jana-Christina Klein, Coordinator Europe
T. +1 353-87-2989957
jklein@artistsinternational.com